Steve Agbota
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), says it has intercepted various contrabands and about 1,500 jerrycans of diesel worth N67 million inone week (January 7, to 14, 2020).
A statement signed yesterday, by the Unit Public Relations Officer, Jerry Attah, said barely one week after resuming as the Acting Customs Area Controller of the Unit, Usman Yahaya, has continued to live up to his statutory responsibilities especially in the area of anti-smuggling operations.
“His quest for outstanding performance using credible intelligence has begun to yield positive results with the interception of 2,065 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 1,185 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice; 1,500 jerrycans (25lts) of diesel; all with a duty paid value of 67,362,500.00 between 7th and 14th of January, 2020 along different unapproved routes within our areas of coverage “This feat is coming as a result of series of meetings held with our sectional heads, team/patrol leaders where he unveiled the management’s mandate bestowed on him which includes blockage of all revenue leakages, trade facilitation and intensification of anti-smuggling operations at various entry points; seaports, land borders, and airport within our areas of jurisdiction in the SouthWest zone.”
Yahaya warned smugglers of the danger that lies ahead for them if they do not engage in legitimate trade.
He called on all the members of the media and the general public to support the fight against smuggling by providing necessary intelligence reports that could assist the service in reducing smuggling to its barest minimum.
The statement also added that Yahaya’s redeployment was part of the Comptroller- General’s strategy to re-jig and reposition the Service for greater efficiency and effectiveness, especially in the areas of revenue generation, trade facilitation as well as combating smuggling.
Prior to his current appointment, Yahaya was the Coordinator of Strike Force, Zone ‘A’ before he was posted to FOU Zone ‘A’ as the Acting Controller. He took over on 7, January 2020, from Comptroller Aliyu Mohammed, who was elevated to a new assignment as the Acting Sector 4 Commander of Border Drill Operations code-named Ex-Swift Response.